Harold I, known as Harold Harefoot, was King of the English from 1035 to 1040.
29 Facts About Harold Harefoot
2.
Harold Harefoot initially ruled England in place of his brother Harthacnut, who was stuck in Denmark due to a rebellion in Norway which had ousted their brother Svein.
3.
Harold Harefoot died in 1040, having ruled just five years; his half-brother Harthacnut soon returned and took hold of the kingdom peacefully.
4.
Harold Harefoot was originally buried in Westminster, but Harthacnut had his body dragged up and thrown into a fen adjacent to the river Thames, from where it was reportedly recovered by a fisherman and eventually reburied in a Danish cemetery in London.
5.
Harold Harefoot was reportedly the son of a cobbler, while his brother Svein Knutsson was the illegitimate son of a priest.
6.
Harold Harefoot deceived Cnut into recognizing both children as his own.
7.
Harold Harefoot refused to remove the items from the altar and forbade any other bishop from doing so.
8.
Harold Harefoot refused to attend church services while uncrowned, preoccupying himself with hunting and trivial matters.
9.
Harold Harefoot was accepted as monarch in a Witenagemot held at Oxford.
10.
In 1036, Gunhilda of Denmark, sister to Harthacnut and half-sister to Harold Harefoot, married Henry III, King of Germany.
11.
Harold Harefoot ruled the areas north of the River Thames, supported by the local nobility.
12.
Harold Harefoot soon "sent and had taken from her all the best treasures" of Cnut the Great.
13.
In 1037, Emma of Normandy fled to Bruges, Flanders, and Harold Harefoot "was everywhere chosen as king".
14.
The account of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, version E, jumps from Harold Harefoot being a mere regent to Harold Harefoot being the sole king.
15.
Harold Harefoot went from being the second surviving son of Cnut to being the eldest living, with Harthacnut still absent and unable to press his claim to the throne.
16.
Harold Harefoot managed to win the throne against the superior claim of Harthacnut in this way.
17.
The Encomium Emmae Reginae claims that Harold Harefoot himself had lured them to England, having sent them a forged letter, supposedly written by Emma.
18.
Harold Harefoot was transported by ship to Ely, and blinded while on board.
19.
Harold Harefoot died in Ely soon after due to the severity of the wounds, his bodyguard similarly treated.
20.
The Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson reports Harold Harefoot to have been buried at Winchester, again alongside Cnut and Harthacnut.
21.
Harold Harefoot had reportedly claimed Sandwich for himself, thereby depriving the monks of Christchurch.
22.
Harold Harefoot is described as lying ill and in despair at Oxford.
23.
Harriet O'Brien feels this is enough to indicate that Harold Harefoot died of natural causes, but not to determine the nature of the disease.
24.
Michael Evans points out that Harold Harefoot was only one of several youthful kings of pre-Conquest England to die following short reigns.
25.
Emma Mason suspects that this could serve as a punishment for Godwin, who had served as a chief supporter of Harold Harefoot, and was now charged with the gruesome task.
26.
Harold Harefoot is the most likely father as the only other king Harold was Harold Godwinson, who would not rise to the throne until 1066.
27.
Harold Harefoot went astray from the qualities and conduct of his father King Cnut, for he cared not at all for knighthood, for courtesy, or for honour, but only for his own will.
28.
Harold Harefoot accuses Harold of driving his own mother Emma out of England, by the advice of Godwin, Earl of Wessex.
29.
The Knytlinga saga considers Harold Harefoot to be the oldest son of Cnut and Emma of Normandy, though its author frequently misrepresents family relationships.